Body-support.



E. A. CURTS 811.0. NIDA.

BODY SUPPORT. APPLICATION FIL'ED AUG.12, 1914.

1,191,769. v Patented July 18,1916.

EPHRAIM A. cuars AND JOHN 0. nine, or ANDERSON, mssounr.

BODY-SUPPORT.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, EPHRAIM A. Gum's and JOHN C. NIDA, citizens of the United States, residing at Anderson, in the county of McDonald and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Body-Supports; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as 'will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same.

This lnvention relates to lmprovements in devices for supporting a persons body, when in stooped position, so as to relieve the back from strain.

Another object of the invention is to provide a support of the character described that may be worn without detection and will prove comfortable, issimple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture.

The above and additional objects are accomplished by such means as are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, described in the following specification and then more particularly pointed out as claimed.

With reference to thedrawings, wherein we have illustrated the preferred embodiment of our invention as it is reduced to practice, and throughout the several views of which similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts, Figure 1 is a perspective view of our improved support showing the same in assembled position, Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view enlarged and taken through the support showing in detail one of the arms of the device, and Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the plane of line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is. a side view'of the support in operative position on the body of the wearer, the body bein in a stooped position and the support being shown on a reduced scale.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference the numerals 1 and 2 designate as an entirety supporting members that are designed to be positioned upon the sides of the body of the wearer and held between the shoulders and knees. Each of the members 1 and 2 consists of an upper cylindrical resilient arm 3 that is pivoted at its lower ends as at 4: to a similar arm 5. Carried on the lower end'of the arm 5 is a semi-circular leg engaging band 6 that is secured at one edge to the arm- 5 and'is arranged to partly encircle thelegs at a point preferably above the knee. The members 1 and 2 are con- Speciflcatioil of Letters Patent. Pa$gnted July 18, 1916; Application filed August 12, 1914. Serial No. 856,484. v

nected with each other by a pair of straps 7- U and 8. These straps are secured intermediate heir ends by fastening elements 9 and 10 to the members 1 and 2 respectively, to

the upper arm 3 of said members. The strap 7 is secured adjacent the extreme upper end of the upper arms3 and the strap 8 is dis-.:

posed intermediate the ends of the upper arms 3. Adjusting buckles 11 of the ordinary character are provided for the straps and are v so arranged as to be disposed in front of the wearer when the device is applied. The strap 7 is designed to surround the body aboutthe arm pit and the one 8 is positioned adjacent to the waist. To attach the device to the body, the straps 7 and 8 are unbuckled and the side members 1 and 2 are positioned on opposite sides of the bod The straps are then buckled around the body at points adjacent the shoulders and waist thereof and in such manner that the pivotal connecting point 4 is disposed adjacent to the hip of the wearer;

The lower ends of the arms 3 have their lower sides cut away to provide the outwardly andupwardly beveled faces 12, and

the arms 5 have their upper ends cut away' tions 3-3 will lie at right angles to the downward movement of the upper sections or arms 33, as shown in Fig. 4.. When the arms or'sections 33 are in this position, the body of the wearer will lean against the straps 7 and 8, and the weight of the body will be distributed to the legs of the wearer above the knees. I

It will be readily seen that we have proided a simple, inexpensive and effective back support that will readily move with the movement of the body and will act in an efiicient manner to strengthen and support the back. By adjusting the straps 7 and 8 the desired bracing is provided.

In practice, we have found that the form of our invention, illustrated in the drawings and referred to in the above description, as the preferred embodiment, is the most efficient and practical; yet realizing that the conditions concurrent with the adoption of our device will necessarily vary, we desire to emphasize the fact that various minor changes in details of construction, proportion and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, when required without sacrificing any of the advantages of our invention as set forth.

What We claim is:

1. A body support consisting ofa pair of side-engaging members each formed of a pair of pivotally connected sections arranged one above the other, body encircling straps carried by the uppermost section, semicircular plates carried by the lowermost section and adapted to engage around the legs of the wearer at points above the knees, the said uppermost sections being adapted, when the body of the wearer is in stooped position, to lie at right angles to the lowermost sections, and means for limiting the downward movement of the upper section.

2. A body support consisting of a pair of side-engaging members, each formed of a pair of pivotally connected sections arranged one above the other, the uppermost memes sections having their lower ends provided with upwardly and outwardly beveled faces, and the lowermost sections having their upper ends provided with inwardly ,and upwardly beveled faces, body-engaging members carried by the uppermost sections and leg-engaging members carried by the lowermost sections, the said uppermost sections being adapted when the body of the wearer is in forward stooped position to lie at right angles to the lower sections and to have the beveled faces of the lower ends thereof engage the beveled faces of the upper ends of the lower sections so as to limit the downward movement of the uppermost sections, for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

EPHRAIM A. oua'rs. JOHN C. NIDA. 

